FOUR burglars wearing balaclavas have ransacked a family home with a baby, a little boy and a woman present to take valuable jewellery and a “substantial” amount of cash.

A group of men dressed in black broke into the property at teatime by entering through the back garden and searching the upstairs of the house for goods to steal.

The traumatic incident happened in Yarm between 5.20pm and 5.45pm on Thursday, February 8, with police releasing an appeal for witnesses on Monday morning.

Jewellery was “forcibly removed” from a woman in the house off Kingsdale Road with three of the men involved finding more jewellery and cash upstairs.

All four men left the address and made off on foot in the direction of Davenport Road.

Detective Constable Joe Myers, from Stockton Operational Crime Team, said: “This has been a distressing incident for the victims. Thankfully, they were physically unharmed, however, it has been traumatic for them all the same.

“We are doing everything possible to find those responsible, anyone who may have seen any suspicious vehicles in the area and specifically anyone who may have dashcam footage from around the Kingsdale Close area on Thursday evening between 5.20pm and 5.45pm to call us on 101.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact DC Myers on 101, quoting event number 23375 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or crimestoppers-uk.org